Lactation Links

It seems that for a new mom, one who is trying to breastfeed her child (or children), the world revolves around lactation and milk. Is there enough? My baby is eating every hour, is she starving? Or, what do I do with ALL this milk?

So I thought I’d give you a few links that I have found helpful.

Milk banking:
The Human Milk Banking Association of North America has a list of milk bank locations that you can donate expressed breast milk to. HMBANA has a great website that explains who they are, how they work, where you can donate, who can donate and so on. And, importantly, they are non-profit.
Many milk banks send milk to Prolacta Bioscience, a for-profit milk bank. Both for-profit and non-profit milk banks sell human milk products to NICUs, but the difference in price is unbelieveable. According to this site, non-profits charge hospitals about $3.25 per ounce to cover processing costs, while Prolacta charges hospitals nearly $185 per ounce.
You can do whatever you want to with your milk, including responding to creepy Craigslist ads, but you should know about the difference in milk banks.

Helpful Websites:Kellymom is a fantastic resource for all things related to pumping, breastfeeding, questions, etc.Nursinginpublic is a website that I found via Twitter. I love her post about boobie traps. We have all heard bad breastfeeding advice – she sums it up here.

What breastmilk is good for (besides drinking):
My friend thought I was a witch doctor recently when I suggested expressing breast milk and putting it on her son’s baby acne, but there are plenty of websites that suggest similar uses for breastmilk, like this one. This site has a very long list as well. Incidentally, when she asked her pediatrician about a clogged eye duct in her son and he suggested squirting breast milk into the baby’s eye, she started to believe in my witch doctor ways.

I can’t find the answer to this, but if anyone has a blacklight, you should check whether breast milk shows up under the light. I think my house might look like a murder scene.